Plural lateral conveyor attachment for road grader



June 24, 1969 Q E, F N 3,451,148

PLURAL LATERAL CONVEYOR ATTACHMENT FOR ROAD GRADER Filed Aug. 51, 1966 INVENTOR flmerk filrlk United States Patent US. Cl. 37-110 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to road graders, and more particularly to an attachment for road graders of the high arched frame type.

Road graders are defined a used for the shaping of roads and the like. Road graders often embody self-propelling mechanism as well as powered mechanism to activate the adjusting of the grading devices that are secured thereto.

While there have been any number of good road graders placed on the market, and any number ofattachments for the different graders, they all embody an adjustably disposed rectangular scraper without any provisions whatsoever for carrying the earth away once it has been a machine (wheeled) have the configuration of a trapezoid are seen in FIGURE 3 to be located in a staggered position to one another.

The aforesaid main frame 5 and the two subframes 6' that are hinged thereto are pivotally secured to the front portion of the road grader 7 by means of a suitable connection which permits the entire main frame and the two subframes to move in both a lateral and vertical position.

' The just-mentioned connection is not visible in any of the views of the drawing. The often-mentioned main frame 5 is also suspended from a bracket Welded to each side of the road grader 7 by means of the four vertically disposed tubular links 8, there being two links on each side of the road grader 7, as one can understand by looking at the appended drawing. The aforesaid links 8 are swingably secured to both the road grader and the main frame 5, thereby permitting lateral movement of the entire invention, as will be understood by those experienced in the art.

The above-described assembly of the main frame 5 and the two subframes 6' to the road grade 7 is seen to be by but six connections which permit this entire invention to be readily secured to, or removed from, any suitable road grader since the only other connections are those of the controls that will hereinafter be described.

Continuing to look at the drawings it will be seen that a pair of upwardly disposed arms 9 extend outwardly from each side of the main frame 5. The arms of each loosened from the desired roadway, This lack of means to remove the earth often;results in delays and thenecessity of employing additional labor and equipment for the moving of the excess earth before the next step can be taken in building the road, be it a secondary country road or a superhighway.

It is therefore the principal object of this invention to provide an attachment for road graders that will not only loosen up the earth, but also carry it away from the top side of the contour line of a predetermined cut in order to insure the proper channel depth of a cut.

Another object of this invention is toprovide an attachment for road graders that can be adapted to any wheeled grader of the high arched frame type, the attachment making it possible for the grader to be used for the making of curves on terraces and the like.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an attachment for road graders that can be adapted to the standard controls of the grader for both activation and vertical adjustment.

Other and further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent as the reading of the following description of the construction and operation of the attachment proceeds and the appended drawing is examined.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a side view of this invention attached to a typical high arched frame type of road grader.

FIG. 2 is a pictorial front view of FIGURE 1.

FIG. 3 is a top view of FIGURE 1 showing only the basic parts of the invention.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawing.

Referring now to the drawings, it will be seen that this invention consists of a rectangular main frame 5 to the underside of each longitudinal .member 6 of which is hingedly secured a subframe 6'. The two subframes which pair of arms are in parallel spaced relation to one another and are connected together by means of a welded tubular member 10 that is at right angle to each arm, as one can clearly see by looking at FIGURES 1 and 3 of the drawings. The purpose of the two pair of arms 9 is to support the upper end of each chain 11 that is wound around the shaft 12 which, with the exception of its ends, is located within the supporting tubular member 10. The lower end of each chain 11 is suitably connected to the sides of the hereinafter described conveyor in a manner that will permit vertical adjustment of the length of the aforesaid chains. The shaft 12 is manually rotated by the handle 13 that has one end placed in the most suitable openings of a plurality of radially and equally spaced openings that are located in the end of the aforesaid shaft 12 which is kept from radially slipping by means of the rachet 14 and its necessary locking pawl.

The already mentioned conveyor which is now characterized for the first time by the reference number 15 is supported by a pair of vertically disposed members 15' that have their upper end fixed to the underside of the main frame 5 and the lower end pinned to the sides of the aforesaid conveyor 15. The members 15 limit the fore and aft travel of the conveyors 15, while an angularly disposed rod connects the pinned lower end of member 15 with the lower end of the conveyor. This construction fixes the lateral movement of the conveyor with respect to the aforesaid main frame 5. The aforesaid conveyor 15 embodies not only the endless belt which is not numbered since this part of the invention is admittedly old and used in countless applications in many arts, but also a drive roller in the outer end of the conveyor. The drive roller which in itself is old, has one end terminating in a gear box 16 that has a shaft 17 partly enclosed in the tubular member 18 that extends inward and upward towards the aforesaid main frame 5. The aforesaid shaft 17 terminates in a power transfer case whose mechanism is connected to the engine 19 which is located on the right-hand side, and front end of the road grader 7. The mechanism of the aforesaid power transfer case (not shown in FIGURES 1 and 2 of the drawing) has provisions for slidably engaging the gearing to one drive shaft 17 while simultaneously disengaging the gearing of the other drive shaft since there are two identical drive shafts 17, one for each of the two conveyors 15. The

purpose of the conveyors being to receive earth from the disc 20. However, before describing the construction of the disc supporting structure, attention is directed to FIG- URE 3 which shows the two chains 11' that are provided to support earth receiving end of the conveyor 15. The chains have been deliberately indicated by the prime number 11 in order to clearly stress the difference between these two supporting chains of one end of the conveyor from the already described chains 11. Only one of the chains is partly visible in FIGURE 2 of the drawing and none in FIGURE 1 and the showing of the chains in FIGURE 3, which is a top view of the invention, cannot from the top clearly show their connection to the structure. The upper end of each chain 11 is secured to the side of the aforesaid subframe 6' by passing through a cloverleaf cutout thereby making it possible to take up the chain(s) and thus lift the conveyor to provide ground clearance. During operation of this road grader the subframes 6 and the conveyors 15 are lowered to the desired depth of cut that is to be made.

Looking again at the drawing, and particularly at FIG- URE 1, it will be seen that the aforesaid disc is rotatably located at the lower end of the vertically disposed shank 21 which has its upper end swingably secured to the outer end upper end of the aforesaid subframe 6' by means of the pin 22. This adjustment is made in part by the turning of a nut on the angularly disposed brace member 23 for the purpose of changing the height of the aforesaid disc 20, as may be required for varying soil conditions. The disc 20 can be rotated at 90 intervals as may be required to equalize wear. The disc 20 is secured to the lowermost end of shank 21 by a center button that is located on the inside of a flat circular plate, the button projecting into an opening in the center of the aforesaid disc 20. Concavity of the bearing area of the disc is provided by a round steel ring formed from a ring which is welded to the outer edge of the aforesaid flat circular plate. This unique feature of the invention allows full bearing at the outer edge of the mounting plate and also precludes any possible misalignment between the aforesaid disc 20 and the mounting plate, as might occur with the usage of a pressed steel dished mounting plate which is indicated in the drawing by the reference number 24. This construction also permits the use of disc of varying concavity. A dirt shield 25 is located along each upper longitudinal side edge of each conveyor 15 in order to prevent any dirt from falling olI the conveyor when it is in operation.

Returning now again to the previously mentioned engine 19 which activates the already described conveyors, the engine is clutched and declutched by means of the linked rod 26 which has its upper end suitably connected to a control that is within reach of the operator of this road grader. A two-position throttle control coordinates the engine with the clutch mechanism so that the engine will idle when declutched and will be at operating r.p.m.

4 when it, the engine, is engaged for the activation of the conveyors 15.

The actual operation of this invention depends upon far too many variables that depend upon the job at hand to be described in this specification. Furthermore, the operation is basically similar to operations performed by those experienced in the handling of road grading machinery as to require no additional explanation to those experienced in the art.

This invention and its many details, assemblies and subassemblies are subject to any desired changes in so long as the changes fall within the scope and intent of the appended claims.

What I now claim as new is:

1. An attachment for road graders of the character described, comprising a rectangular main frame secured to the underside of any high arched frame type of road grader in place of the regular road grading mechanism, and structure extending outward from the underside of the said main frame in the form of subframes, each subframe supporting both a disc for the cutting of earth and a laterally located conveyor for the movement of the earth cut by the said disc, the said conveyor also being supported in part by a pair of arms that extend upwardly and outwardly from the side of the said main frame, and manually adjustable chains extending from the outer end of the said arms to the sides of the said conveyor.

2. The invention of claim 1 wherein other chains extend downward from the said subframes to that end of each said conveyor which is nearest to the said disc.

3. The invention of claim 2 wherein each said disc is both rotationally adjustable on the lower end of a. vertically disposed shank which has its upper end swingably adjustably secured to the outer end of one of the said subframes which has a top configuration of a trapezoid.

4. The invention of claim 3 wherein the two said conveyors are connected to an engine mounted on the said road grader by means of suitable power transfer case located on one end of the said engine and drive shafts extending outward at right angle from the said road grader to a gear box located on one side of the outer end of each one of the said conveyors.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,045,387 6/1936 Green et a1. 37-110 2,527,415 10/1950 Hancock 371l0 2,791,043 5/1957 Hancock 37-1l0 2,814,889 12/1957 Reisser 371l0 3,345,764 10/1967 Malsam 37110 ROBERT E. PULFREY, Primary Examiner.

EUGENE H. EICKHOLT, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 198-9 

